


You can’t fight dragons on your own

by thisisamadhouse



Series: Nightmares verse [3]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: DimpleQueen, F/M, Missing Year (Once Upon a Time), drunk!Robin, mentions of Marian, mentions of Regina's marriage to the King
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-28
Updated: 2018-01-28
Packaged: 2019-03-10 18:50:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,538
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13507647
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thisisamadhouse/pseuds/thisisamadhouse
Summary: A grieving and drunk Robin makes some revelations to Regina. Is she ready to hear them? (pre-OQ + Dimple Queen)





	You can’t fight dragons on your own

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted for the 3rd OQ Week Day 7 Late night confession. Missing Year, heavy dose of Dimple Queen and OQ feels. 

 She must be quite the sight, Regina thought as she made her way through the Castle, clutching her midnight blue velvet robe close to her, her long wavy black tresses flowing down her back.

She blamed her current situation on her inability to say no to Roland. She had noticed he had been a bit withdrawn all day, not his usual cheerful self, and combining that with the fact that his thief of a father didn’t pester her at all that day, she had felt compelled to ask what was going on.

The boy had only shrugged, snuggling more heavily against her side as she was reading him a story about a dragon protecting a Princess from unworthy suitors, until, one day, a knight had laid his weapons down at the dragon’s feet, and asked its permission to meet and court the Princess.

Roland didn’t need to know she had enlisted Belle’s help to bring some changes to the book, since she hadn’t been able to stop herself from cringing at the rather gruesome end the beast was meeting in the original tale, she knew how much Roland loved dragons.

“Papa was very sad today,” Roland had finally admitted to her, as he had traced the illustrations of the Princess and her knight flying on the dragon’s back towards new adventures. “He didn’t want me to see but I did.”

Regina had nodded and rested her chin over his head, relishing in the soft tickles of the wild brown curls. “Of course you did, you’re my smart, brave knight, you don’t miss anything,” she had replied softly, and he had straightened up, puffing his chest out proudly, making her smile.

“I don’t know why though,” he had deflated a moment later. “I asked the Merry Men but no one said anything.” He had turned fully towards her then, a hopeful look in his widened eyes. “Can you find out Gina? Can you find my papa and make him not sad anymore? With your magic? That always works for me.”

She had known she was in big trouble then, because how on Earth or any realm was she supposed to refuse anything to this adorable boy?

“Roland,” she had sighed out. “My magic can’t actually…” She had trailed off, seeing the way his expression was falling. “But I can try.” Where did that come from? She had wondered but the next second she had been squished into one of the most warm and heartfelt embrace she had ever known, and all other thoughts had flown out of the window.

“Thank you Queen Gina!” Roland had exclaimed, and she had to coax him into going to sleep, and thus giving her some time to look for his father without having to worry.

She really needed to be stronger when it came to the boy, she thought, before shaking her head, _yeah like that would ever happen._

So there she was, strolling through her own Palace, that was not quite just her own these days, in the dead of night, trying to find an elusive thief… and failing, which was frankly annoying her. She had already passed three Guards and two dwarves, the last two had looked her up and down strangely, the first three hadn’t dared, and none of them had been helpful, while she had been perfectly polite… Well, mostly civil and unthreatening anyway.

“When I dig you out of whatever hole you’re hiding in, Robin of Locksley, I will make you regret keeping me up all night for nothing,” she mumbled under her breath before freezing.  _Huh, that didn’t sound right._

She shook her head and leaned on a nearby balcony, thinking “If I was a dirty, smelly thief, where would I go?” And just then, she noticed a flicker of light coming from the stables, and she groaned in dismay. She loved horses, had always loved them, but given some of her experiences in the stables she tried to never spend too much time in the place. “Roland, the things I do for you,” she muttered.

She used one of her well-known short cuts which came out near the entrance closest to where she needed to go.

She waved her hand to make a clear passage among the straw covered path, and stood at the horse barn door, taking a deep breath, before settling an irritated gaze on the man sprawled on the ground, with a couple of empty bottles lying around him and one clutched in his hands.

She huffed, annoyed. “If I had known you were avoiding your own son to drink yourself into a stupor, I wouldn’t have bothered looking for you,” she snapped, ignoring the memories of her own escapade into the village to do exactly that not so long ago. It wasn’t the same, she decided.

Robin was startled from his apparently fascinating contemplation of the box in front of him by her voice, and he looked up at her in wonder, his eyes skimming down her figure slowly, lingering in some places, and then looking back at the bottle he was holding and its empty sisters.

“I must not handle alcohol as well as I thought,” he grumbled.

Regina looked down at herself, confused ,and realised quickly that in her hurry her dressing gown had fallen open, showing her flimsy black nightdress which in the light cast by the torches didn’t leave much to the imagination. She cinched it again, fighting the urge to blush, because that would mean she cared about what he thought, and she didn’t, did she? 

Who was she even fooling? She didn’t remember much from her night of drinking herself into oblivion, but she knew she had been rather forward, the ghost memory of a strong hand on her body, and an attempt at tangling limbs lingering somewhere in her mind and invading her dreams. It was becoming rather difficult to deny her growing attraction towards the thief.

“And I thought those days were behind you,” she remarked, detouring her thoughts from the dangerous direction they were taking, nodding towards the bottles.

“Not today,” he replied, his voice raspy and hoarse from the burning alcohol he had consumed.

She frowned, turning her attention to her black stallion which was neighing impatiently in the stall right next to her. She made an apple appear out of thin air and fed it to him, trying to determine how she was supposed to act in this situation, she was definitely swimming into unknown waters. She petted the horse slowly, it always made her feel calmer.

“I got one free pass, I guess you can have one too,” she said at last, and turned around to find him watching her intently.

“A free pass?” Robin asked, perplexed, and yes, that’s right he didn’t go to Storybrooke, there were some concepts which were foreign to him.

“I drowned myself in ale, and you stayed by my side without judgement… I owe you one,” she explained, grimacing at the last part, never one to easily admit she was indebted to someone.

She almost laughed at the dumbfounded expression on his face.

“Alright, I need to stop drinking now because I am seeing and hearing things that can’t possibly be true,” he exclaimed, putting down the still half full bottle on the ground.

Regina rolled her eyes. “What the hell am I even doing here?” She snarled, swirling around and stepping towards the entrance.

“Regina, wait,” Robin called her out, and she stopped, not looking back at him but not leaving either. “I appreciate you being here, even if I’m quite sure it wasn’t at your initiative.”

_He sounds articulate for a drunk man_ , Regina thought before exhaling and pivoting around.

“Roland was worried,” she admitted, crossing her arms under her chest.

“Yes, he does that,” Robin said, the corners of his lips lifting slightly at the thought of his meddling son, and Regina couldn’t help but smile fondly in response.

“Want to tell me what this is all about?” She asked and he looked down for a moment, frowning.

“My wife died three years ago,” he answered plainly, and Regina winced, knowing that there was no words she could possibly say to make him feel better.  _Alright, maybe it was the same after all._

“I understand that it does call for a drink… or several,” she told him instead, moving to sit on the ground beside him, pretending not to see the dumbstruck look on his face as hay and dust clung to the expensive material of her gown.

“She made me the man I am today, she gave me my son, and I couldn’t save her…” He paused to take  another swing of the bottle, and she took it away from him. They both froze as her hand covered his on the round glass surface.

“Granny is going to be pretty pissed off when she finds out some of her bottles are missing, she takes inventory very seriously,” Regina informed him, trying to diffuse the growing tension.

“Might as well finish it all and give her a true reason to be angry,” Robin reasoned, grasping for it again but she kept it out of reach.

“You’re not even going to share? I’m sitting in the dirt, in the middle of the night, next to a drunk Thief; given the damages that could do to my reputation, I think I deserve some compensation,” she reeled off, and drank directly from the bottle while he was trying to understand what she just said.

“Do you know what the worst part is though?” He asked, not bethering to reply to her last statement, having already enough trouble looking away from the bold creature by his side.

She looked at him with raised eyebrows, shaking her head no.

“I had to be reminded what today is. I woke up this morning and I didn’t feel this awful ache like a knife was being twisted in my heart until I wanted to scream for mercy. It’s only when Tuck and John asked me how I was feeling, and that they didn’t mind looking after Roland to give me some time to myself that I remembered. My wife died three years ago because I couldn’t protect her and I forgot about it,” he confessed and he looked horrified at the notion.

She handed him the bottle back without comment, a bit stunned that he would confess something like that to her.

“I blame you to be honest,” he added, and she tensed, wary of where he was going with this. “You waltzed into my life, all regal, and haughty, and unattainable, and I thought there was no way that I could ever get two kind words out of you, and why would I even ever bother trying? And then you saved my son, you tried to go alone on some sort of suicidal mission, thinking no one would care and you told me, however reluctantly, about your own son, and I saw something… someone different, someone who knows about loss like I do. So, yes, I blame you because I don’t know if I’m drinking because I’m heartbroken over my wife’s death, or because I didn’t remember what today is, and last year I wouldn’t have had that problem,” he elaborated, emptying the bottle with one last healthy swallow, and she watched him, her mouth hanging open slightly, repeatedly blinking because his words pronounced in that order made absolutely no sense, did they?

“I… I…” she attempted, gulping down the lump forming in her throat.

“Have I actually succeeded in making the Queen speechless? Not bad for a drunk thief,” he commented and she clamped her mouth shut and snorted.

“As if you ever could. I was just trying to determine how much you would regret telling me this in the morning, when your mind clears,” she tried to cover how troubled she was feeling by using sarcasm but her tone wasn’t as biting as usual.

“I am not quite sure how much of this I am going to remember, but I’m sure you will be there to remind me about my ridiculous behaviour,” Robin replied.

“Ye of little faith. I’m not that bad, am I?” Regina asked, with the barest hint of uncertainty in her voice, her upper body turning towards him a tad more, and she realised how close they were sitting.

“No, absolutely not,” he breathed, his eyes roaming over her face and settling on the scar on her upper lip.

She knew where this was going, they had a tendency to get all touchy-feely when inebriated it seemed, but it wasn’t a good idea.

“Robin, you were a gentleman last time we were in this situation, and I’m sure that once you’re feeling more like yourself you will realise how unwise this is.”

“They say alcohol only reveal your true nature. What if this is what I really want?”

Regina closed her eyes, shocked that she could feel tears gathering behind her eyelids. “I know how it is to be with someone who can’t express consent, and I most certainly know what it is to be deprived of your consent. I don’t want that ever again.”

A thumb wiping away her fallen tears caused her to reopen her eyes.

“Does that mean what I think it does?” Robin asked, a soft expression on his face.

“It means that if anything ever happens between us, I don’t want there to be any doubt that it is both our choice,” she answered.

“Giving an outlaw ideas like that can be dangerous,” he quipped, brushing his lips against hers, but she moved her head back.

“I’m confident some sleep will erase all of this from your memories,” she said, and in the next moment waved her hands and made him disappear in a cloud of purple smoke, sending him to his chambers.

She stayed where she was seated for a long while, She knew she had done the right thing, but then why did she feel so damn sad?

Her lips pursed at the thought that Snow would be proud of her, not that her stepdaughter would ever know about any of this.  _You’re learning, Regina_ , she mused.

The next morning at breakfast, she saw how worn out the thief looked, and how he was trying to hide his winces in response to his son’s high-pitched voice, and she teased him by speaking louder than usual when she said hello to Roland.

The boy hugged her once more, whispering in her ear that he knew she could do it. “Papa told John you saved him from his demons,” he said, repeating without really understanding the words he probably caught while sneaking up his father and ‘uncle’.

“Did he, now?” She asked, looking down at Robin who threw her a sheepish smile.

“What does that mean, Gina? Did you save Papa from a fearsome monster?” Roland gasped and Regina smiled.

“Something like that, my little knight,” she answered. _Yes sometimes memories could be as scary as the most awful monstrosity, especially if you were alone to face them_ , she added in her mind and catching Robin’s eyes, she had a feeling he knew exactly what she meant.


End file.
